Answers before
you start.
We've been on the other side of this — running a pinewood derby with a notebook and a stopwatch. Here's everything we wish we'd known.
Getting started
The five-minute version. If this is your first derby, start here.
How do I sign up?
One email address. That's it. We send you a magic link, you click, you're in. No password to forget, no card required for the free tier.
Do I need to install anything?
No software, no app. GrandPrixHQ runs in any modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge. Your phone, your computer, or a tablet at the church basement is enough.
How long does setup take?
About five minutes to create your group and your first event. About thirty seconds per racer once parents register themselves. The whole path from signed up to running a race is designed to fit inside an hour.
What if I've never run a derby before?
That's who we built this for. The platform is designed for first-timers — we tell you what to do at every step, and the race-day operator screen is built to be used by a stressed volunteer with kids running around. If something does go sideways, manual entry always works.
Pricing & plans
Free is genuinely free — no caps, no trial countdown.
What's included in the free tier?
Unlimited events, unlimited racers, manual heat entry, the Web Serial bridge (which lets your laptop read your existing commercial timer), parent-uploaded car photos, online entry-fee collection, public results pages, and 30 days of result retention. You can run a full race forever at $0.
Can our group collect entry fees online?
Yes — on every tier, including Free. Set a registration fee on your event and parents pay by card as part of signup. Your group receives the full fee; a card-processing fee (3.95% + $0.95 on Free, 2.9% + $0.50 on Pro and District) is added to the parent's total, so there's nothing to deduct or reconcile on your end.
Parents who'd rather pay cash at the door can — staff mark them paid at check-in. And events without a fee don't change at all: no card step, nothing to set up.
When would I upgrade to Pro?
Four reasons to upgrade:
(1) you want your branding on your results pages — logo, primary and secondary color;
(2) you want to send announcements to your team and registered parents — race-day updates, reminders, and event news from inside GrandPrixHQ;
(3) you bought a GrandPrixHQ Link and want to use it (Link compatibility is Pro-only);
(4) you want to keep your race history year over year — Pro retains results permanently.
Pro is $99/year, paid annually, cancel anytime.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes — through Stripe's customer portal, accessible from your settings. Your subscription stays active until the end of the period you've already paid for; after that you drop back to the free tier and we stop charging.
Do you offer a free trial of Pro?
The free tier is the trial. Run a race on free, see if you want what Pro adds, then upgrade. No card-required-upfront friction.
What about the District plan?
District is for councils coordinating five or more packs. It's sales-led — we do a thirty-minute call, you tell us what you actually need, we quote on the same call. Email [email protected].
Hardware & timers
Hardware is optional. The platform is the product.
Do I need to buy hardware?
No. You can run a full pinewood derby on GrandPrixHQ without buying anything. Manual mode (someone taps finish positions on a tablet) works for every group. Web Serial mode (your laptop reads your existing electronic timer via USB) works if you already own a commercial timer.
What timers does GrandPrixHQ work with?
The big commercial ones — The Judge, FastTrack, Champ, DerbyMagic, SmartLine, MicroWizard. If you have a timer that talks to DerbyNet, it probably talks to us too. If yours isn't on the list, email us and we'll prioritize the parser.
What's the GrandPrixHQ Link?
A small Wi-Fi device that plugs into your existing commercial timer and streams times to GrandPrixHQ in real time. It's the hands-free version: no laptop tethered to the timer, parents at home see results update as each heat finishes. $149, one-time purchase, works with Pro or District accounts.
What if my timer fails on race day?
Flip to manual. Every event has a manual entry path — someone watches the finish, taps positions, and the heat resolves normally. We designed this for the moment your timer dies twenty minutes in.
Data & privacy
Kid data lives behind parent identity. Period.
Who can see my kid's information?
Their parent (you), your group's admins (the race chair and the leaders they invite), and platform support if you reach out for help. Other parents never see your kid's last name, address, or contact info. Public results pages show a first name and last initial — never the full name.
Where is data stored?
The application database lives on Railway's US-East infrastructure (Postgres). Media uploads (car photos, race-day photos) live on Cloudflare R2. We don't sell, share, or train AI on your data.
Can I delete my information?
Yes — email [email protected]. We honor account deletion requests within seven days, and we delete kid data first.
Is this COPPA compliant?
Yes. Children don't have accounts on GrandPrixHQ — parents do. Kid data is collected only as part of a parent's registration of their own child, and is only visible to that parent and your group's admins.
What about photos posted on results pages?
Car photos that parents upload are public on your group's results pages. We add visible "Powered by GrandPrixHQ" attribution and use only the kid's first name and last initial in the caption. Race-day staff photography (Pro feature) requires admin approval before publication.
Switching to GrandPrixHQ
Honest comparisons. We know we're not the only option.
We use DerbyNet. Why switch?
DerbyNet is excellent software and free — credit where it's due. Here's the honest comparison: DerbyNet requires installing the application on a race-day laptop and managing the local network; GrandPrixHQ is just a URL. DerbyNet doesn't have parent pre-registration (parents register online from their phone before race day); we do. DerbyNet doesn't retain results year over year; we do.
If your group runs one race a year and you're comfortable installing software, DerbyNet is genuinely fine.
We use spreadsheets. Is this overkill?
Probably not. Moving off spreadsheets is designed to save five to ten hours on race day — parents pre-register themselves, check-in is two taps per kid, heats auto-generate, results publish instantly. The free tier costs nothing; the tradeoff isn't money, it's the thirty minutes of setup.
Can I import past results?
Not in v1. Today GrandPrixHQ starts fresh from the first event you create. Past-results import is on the roadmap; not before launch.
What if I want to leave?
Your data exports as CSV from your settings, anytime. No lock-in.
Still have questions?
Email us at [email protected] — we read everything, we reply fast, and we're not a chatbot.